Not long after Some Dogs first came out, I received an email from a ‘concerned’ reader, who chose to take issue with me over my inclusion of praise for Cesar Millan. Was I not aware, she asked, that Cesar’s methods left dogs traumatised and damaged? After generally chastising me for my mention of him, she sent me the web address of a local trainer who used ‘humane methods’ of training, all of which involved positive reinforcement.

​Here, she declared, was where we should be sending all of our dogs for training. She had sent her two there, and it worked great for them. She’d even put in a good word for us.

Since that time, Cesar has continued to divide the dog world. There are those who love him, and those who find his techniques nothing short of despicable. It’s not hard to find stories, now the stuff of legend, about how Cesar’s intervention has ruined the life of many a hapless canine, and even a tale or two of how he directly caused the death of somebody’s beloved pet. Those who espouse positive reinforcement are quick to eviscerate both the man and his methods, so since this is my blog, I thought I’d allow myself the luxury of giving my two cents worth.

I would love it if all of our dogs could be trained using methods of positive reinforcement. It seems like the good thing to do. The last thing we want is to bring any kind of distress or harm to any one of our animals. And up until the time we got Emily, when we only had three charges, that is exactly what we did.

But I have one thing to say to those who would seek to espouse this method for the whole world and his wife: This method simply does not work if you have more than a small number of dogs.

Cesar Millan’s ideas are based upon his study of dogs in their natural environment, which is of course a pack. Under these natural circumstances, they live by pack, and not human rules. They are quick and merciless in their dispensation of dog justice, occasionally brutal with one another, and exist in a totally hierarchical structure wherein position and respect need to be earned and maintained. This is achieved by force, not reason. They have unwritten rules that we merely begin to glimpse an understanding of, and nowhere do these include positive reinforcement.

In my observation, all of Cesar’s teachings are totally appropriate and applicable for such an environment. A human who seeks to place themselves within a pack setting absolutely must adopt the Alpha position if they are to maintain any semblance of control or authority. If they do not, a canine version of order will supplant all else, and to a human, that might look something akin to rough justice, exhibiting all of the worst excesses of doggie martial law.

Cesar’s techniques DO work. I don’t believe they leave dogs scarred or emotional wrecks as has been claimed. They may not be as nice as positive reinforcement, but then they do leave the dog quite clear about who is in charge and they do earn owners respect which frankly, positive reinforcement doesn’t. The methods are neither cruel, pain inducing, nor damaging (I am very suspicious of those claims made about their effects) and although they may not be necessary in all situations, in the type of troubled situation into which Cesar is most often called, they are particularly efficacious.

I understand the need people have to jump in and offer their opinion about the rights and wrongs of his teachings. For many, they believe they are speaking out on behalf of the dogs. For others, it’s a shameless bandwagon as they themselves are vendors as well as proponents of alternative disciplines.

But please, unless you really know what you're talking about, unless you have a pack of dogs that you live with, don’t condemn.